[zoglet]

both good options, thanks guys, checking em out tonight.

colour me embarrased for not knowing / checking xbmc scripts. a new universe of tinkering awaits.

thanks also for offering help, i'll be fine with powermgt setup but not sure if it's suitable for my current scenario. i only have the one pc which currently acts as my temp storage space for unwatched vids. as this is also my games machine and my stare blankly at stuff machine, i don't like to use the power saving options to squeak out best performance (damn battlefield2, lol ;o)

i agree that a standalone fileserver/nas solution would be cool and will be an ultimate goal but at the mo i just want to switch off my pc as i'm drifting off to sleep without getting outta bed, lol.

again thanks for responding guys